TheStreet.com Senior Writer
1/30/2008 2:15 PM EST
Chairman Ben Bernanke's Federal Reserve offered up another half-point rate cut to investors on Wednesday, amid signs of malaise in the U.S. economy.
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Chairman Ben Bernanke's Federal Reserve offered up another half-point rate cut to investors on Wednesday, amid signs of malaise in the U.S. economy.
WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve is likely to follow its bold action last week to battle an economic downturn with further interest rate reductions, although analysts are split on just what size the future cuts will be.
Do Not Ignore Mail From Your Lender
If you do not contact your lender, your lender will try to contact you by mail and phone soon after you stop making payments. It is very important that you respond to the mail and the phone calls offering help. If your lender does not hear from you they will be required to start legal action leading to foreclosure. This will substantially increase the cost of bringing your loan current.
Congressional leaders announced a deal with the White House Thursday on an economic stimulus package that would give most tax filers refunds of $600 to $1,200, and more if they have children..
Beta is a measure of how a particular stock's price moves relative to the market as a whole. It is usually described as a measure of volatility. There are individual stock betas and industry betas.
A beta of one indicates that the stock's price moves exactly with the overall market. For example, if the market goes up 20%, the stock price goes up 20%. Market down 10%, stock down 10%. This is, of course, calculated over a period of months and does not necessarily hold true on a daily basis.
A stock with a beta of more than one is more volatile than the market. If the market goes up, it tends to go up at a greater magnitude (i.e. market goes up 10%, stock goes up 15%). The higher the beta, the more volatile the stock. A beta of less than one indicates that the stock's price is more stable than the market (in general and over a long time period).
A beta for an entire industry would compare how the companies in that industry fare relative to the market. For example, high technology stocks, as a whole, probably have a higher average beta than one. In comparing stocks within an industry, it can be useful to know the industry beta and how a specific company compares to it. For example, if you know that the beta for telecommunications stocks was 1.3 and you found a company in that industry with a beta of 0.8, this would tell you that the company is not only less volatile than the market as a whole, but extremely stable compared to its industry -- which could be good or bad depending on whether you are looking for price stability or rapid price growth.
This is just a brief outline of what beta is and how it is used. For more information, I would have to send you to the library. Look up Capital Asset Pricing Model and Portfolio Management Theory in a good book on long-term investing.